74 



CELERY. 



of spring ; and to behold some acres overspread with such 

 glasses, gives the stranger a forcible idea of the riches and 

 luxury of the metropolis." 



CELERY. — Apium graveolens. — ^Celery is a hardy bien- 

 nial plant, a native of Great Britain, and, when in its wild 

 state, it is denominated smallage. The root, in its wild 

 state, is thick and fibrous. The stalk is bushy and furrow- 

 ed, and attains the height of two or three feet. The leaves 

 are wedge-shaped, and the flowers yellow, which are pro- 

 dnoed in August. The varieties usually cultivated are, the 



White solid, I Italian, and 



Rose-coloured solid, | Celeriac, or tumip-rooted. 



Propagation. — All the sorts are raised from seed ; and 

 half an ounce is reckoned sufficient for a seed-bed four feet 

 and a half wide by ten feet in length, of the upright sorts ; 

 but for celeriac, a quarter of an ounce will be enough for a 

 bed four feet square. 



Soil. — Celery delights in a soil rather moist, rich in ve- 

 getable mould, but not rank from new, unrotted dung. 



Times of sowing, — " The most forward crop is slightly 

 forced ; any of the varieties may be sown in the spring, in 

 the open garden, at two or three different times, from the 

 21st of March till the first week in May ; but the principal 

 sowing should be made in the first fortnight in April. Sow 

 in beds of light mellow earth, and rake in the seed lightly 

 and regularly. In very dry weather, give moderate water- 

 ing both before and after the plants come up. When they 

 are two, three, or four inches high, thin the seed-bed, and 

 prick out a quantity, at successive times, into intermediate 

 beds, three or four inches asunder. Water those removed 

 until they have struck" [taken root.'] — London. 



Transplanting into trenches. — " When either the plants 

 left in the seed-bed, or those removed, are from six to 

 twelve inches high, or when the latter have acquired a 

 stocky growth, by four or five weeks' nurture in the inter- 

 mediate bed, transplant them into trenches for blanching. 

 For this purpose, allot an open compartment. Mark out 

 the trenches a foot wide, and from three to three and a 

 Iialf distance ; dig out each trench lengthwise, ten or twelve 

 inches in v/idth, and a light spit deep, that is, six or eight 

 inches. Lay the earth dug out equally on each side of the 

 trench ; put about three inches of very rotten dung into 

 the trench, then pare the sides, and dig the dung and par- 

 ings with an inch or two of the loose mould at the bottom. 



